{:> Quickworx

Virtual-QuickFrame is really just a vanilla LAMP server based on the excellent Unbuntu Server 6.06. As such there are really many sources of information available on the web for administrating a Unbuntu LAMP server .However, there are a few peculiarities of the Virtual-QuickFrame setup that probably need a bit of explanation.

Getting started

Starting your Virtual Server

You will need either VmWare Player or VmWare Server to run your Virtual-QuickFrame Server. Use the instructions for installing these packages available from http://vmware.com Once you have the VmWare Server Console started you are ready to open your new Virtual-QuickFrame server. Click on “Open a virtual machine” and navigate to the “.vmx” file in the Virtual-QuickFrame folder. Then click “Power on” and if asked about creating an ID for your server click “create”. You should only have to do this once. Once your server is up and running you should be presented with a login prompt. You are now ready to login and explore your new server.

Logging in

Default Credentials:

username: admin
password: 4quickframe
Change this IMMEDIATELY!

You can log in with these credentials to begin using your new server. This account is the sudo account which means that you can run any program that requires root privileges simply by adding sudo to the front of it.

For example: sudo useradd

Will add a new user to the system after it asks you for your password.

There is also a list of modified and handy commands listed for you at login that are already “sudoed” so you can just type them and hit enter.

IMPORTANT!This username and password are used consistantly as the administrative account for almost everything. Since this is widely known on the Internet…

PLEASE CHANGE THIS PASSWORD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IN EACH APPLICATION WHERE IT IS USED.

Changing your password

After logging into your server type ‘passwd’ and hit enter. Enter your current and new passwords when prompted. This is very important because your admin account has full sudo privileges for your virtual machine which means anyone knowing the password has FULL access to your server.

Finding the Address for your Server

Type ‘ifconfig’ at the command prompt. This will produce a report on the current address of your machine. Look for the section under “eth0″. There you will find “inet addr” followed by 4 numbers separated by dots. This is your server address. To access Quickframe open a browser and enter http://###.###.###.### (http:// followed by the above inet addr number) This should present you with the QuickFrame login page. http://###.###.###.###/grading should present you with the grading login page. http://###.###.###.###/phpmyadmin should present you with the login page for the mysql admin web interface. These programs all use admin:4quickframe as their username and password.

Please change them as soon as possible.

Never Use the Snapshot feature of VmWare Server

This feature will have unfortunate side effects that could result in inadvertent data loss. This may change in the future as the free version of VmWare Server evolves, but for now DO NOT USE IT.

Backing up your server

There are several ways to back up your server. The most obvious is to shut it down and make a copy of the Virtual-QuickFrame folder. However, most of the important data is held in the MySql database so a backup of these databases will usually be sufficient for backing up the crucial data on your server. These backups can be made through the phpmyadmin interface to your server.

Backing up your databases with phpmyadmin

1. Navigate to phpmyadmin in your browser http://yourserveraddress/phpmyadmin
2. Log in as admin (if you have not changed this password yet now is a good time. you do that by clicking on the “privileges” link on the phpmyadmin homepage)
3. Select the database you wish to backup from the dropdown selector in the left column.
4. Select the choices listed in the following screen shot:

Backup page screen shot
Click “Go” and save your backup somewhere safe.

Learning more about administrating your server

This server is built on Ubuntu (Dapper 6.06.1) and as such any howtos regarding Ubuntu Dapper will apply to this machine. The Internet generally and specifically Google is very helpful in problem solving just be sure to “Ubuntu” or “Dapper” to your search in Google and generally you will find useful help with your problem. Helpful links:

The Ubuntu site

http://ubuntu.org

The Linux Documentation Project

The Linux Documentation Project

This howto is obviously a work in progress. However, it should be enough to get you started. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me by clicking Here.

Enjoy!

{:> Tom Possin

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